It was only a month ago that we pondered Seesmic’s future in the video conversation arena. Then just a fortnight ago the startup’s founder Loic Le Meur himself publicly doubted the viability of a future in video.

As they have already launched a well-received Twitter and Facebook app, Seesmic Desktop, it wasn’t too much of a surprise when Friday saw the launch of a browser-based Twitter app and the erasing of pretty much any mention of video conversation from seesmic.com.

So, can this new focus on creating apps for existing services make Seesmic profitable? Let’s take a look.

The problem with video conversation

Seesmic Video has some rabidly enthusiastic fans. They appreciate the emotional engagement you can get from seeing a person express themselves on camera. They have a point; video debate can convey a much more complex message than text alone. The problem is that these fans are few and far between.

A lot of online conversation takes place while people are doing other things. Whether people are at work or sat at home with other people in the room, recording vid